CreditGuy Rhodes

7 Western Cowboy Movie Experiences in Southern Arizona

Cowboys, Outlaws, Bandits, Horses, Gold, and Glory – all staples of the Western movie genre! Just as iconic are saguaro cacti, desert landscapes, and mountain backdrops – this is because for over 100 years, Tucson and Southern Arizona have been the place to be for Western movie filming, and those things gradually made their way into our collective image of “the Wild West”. Over the years, hundreds of feature films used iconic locations in the region, and well-known actors such as John Wayne, Cary Grant, Gene Autry, and many others stayed and played here in their free time, including at several locations in Marana. The region still remains a well-sought-after location for the Western genre, and there are several places that you can experience the area’s rich film history yourself!

Old Tucson

Located about 30 minutes south of Marana, Old Tucson is a film studio and set, turned family theme park. Since its opening in 1939, Old Tucson has been a filming location for hundreds of western feature-length films, TV series, commercials, music videos, and more, including classics such as Arizona, Tombstone, The High Chapparal, Three Amigos, Winchester ’73, The Quick and The Dead, and many more, and it continues to be used for filming to this day. Many consider it to be the ultimate Western movie-centered theme park. You can see the full-sized set pieces from iconic scenes in the Western genre, while enjoying themed stunt shows, musical plays and performances, other historic-themed demonstrations, rides, shops, restaurants, and more, all with period-accurate costumed extras.

Tip: Take the most scenic route to Old Tucson from Phoenix, or points north of Marana, by taking Exit 236 (Marana Road) off I-10 and following the easy drive through Saguaro National Park West. You’ll see two wonders of Southern Arizona in one trip!

CreditOld Tucson

Tucson Wagon & History Museum

Please Note: Be sure to check this attraction's website for current hours and opening dates.

Just south of Downtown Tucson, this museum is a true hidden gem in Southern Arizona. Formerly known as the Rodeo Parade Museum, you’ll find four airplane hangar-sized buildings full of an astonishing collection of over 100 horse-drawn vehicles at the Tucson Wagon & History Museum. The collection ranges from fancy carriages that once transported royalty, to rustic wagons, stagecoaches, buckboards, and Santa’s sleigh; all over a century old, and restored to their original glory. There are full-scale installations of historic businesses, and reproductions of commercial daily life, rooms of historic tack, ropes, fittings, and stories to go with every object.

A number of the vehicles in the collection were used in movies and are clearly marked with signage. You can see the actual Surrey carriages with the fringe on top from the movie Oklahoma!, filmed in Tucson in 1955, a buckboard wagon used as a prop in The High Chaparral, and many more.

CreditTucson Wagon & History Museum

White Stallion Ranch

Truly authentic, truly top-notch, and truly unparalleled. The White Stallion Ranch is a private guest ranch, that has consistently been rated as one of the best dude ranches in Arizona and in the entire country. Guests will enjoy a vacation full of all things wild west – horseback riding, hiking, E-bike tours of the desert, rock climbing, and a shooting range, all while being fully immersed in one of the top Western movie filming locations in the country. More than 100 classic Cowboy movies were filmed there, as well as 17 episodes of The High Chaparral.

The White Stallion Ranch continues to be a popular filming location, even to this day! In 2024, the ranch and the surrounding area was the setting of the music video for country superstar Lainey Wilson’s song “Wildflowers and Wild Horses”. You can clearly see the iconic backdrops of the Tucson Mountains and the Sonoran Desert right here in Marana that make the White Stallion Ranch one of the region’s most sought-after locations.

Watch the Music Video for Wildflowers and Wild Horses by Lainey Wilson, filmed at the White Stallion Ranch:

Li'l Abner's Steakhouse

If only the walls here could talk! When Western movie stars and crews weren’t hanging out by the pool of their boutique guest ranch in Marana after a long day of filming, they were likely at Li’l Abner’s Steakhouse, right in the middle of all of the action in between the guest ranches and the filming locations. Li’l Abner’s has an authentic cowboy atmosphere, slowly developed over 100 years. It started as a rodeo roping practice hangout, which evolved into a bar for 72 years, and then a restaurant. There aren’t many authentic places like this left in the world where ranchers, cowboys, and Hollywood actors and producers mingled and caroused. Don’t miss the velvet painting of John Wayne over the fireplace.

CreditLi'l Abner's Steakhouse

Mira Vista Resort

Mira Vista Resort was originally founded in 1936 as Saguaro Vista Ranch, but has been known as a place of respite and rejuvenation since as far back as the 1860s. According to Russell True, in his book, Dude Ranching in Arizona (2016), famous guests of the resort included John Wayne, Greta Carbo, Cary Grant, and Katharine Hepburn. With its Pueblo Revival architecture and volcanic rock arches, rock walls, original wood floors, pool, restaurant, new amenities, vintage luxury charm, and brand new Santa Fe-style condos, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. In 2006, it was renovated and re-opened under its current name, as one of the top clothing-optional resorts in the country.

CreditJim Collette

Trail Dust Town

In 1951, a Western movie starring Glenn Ford started filming on Tucson’s east side but wasn’t completed. The set for that movie, a replica of a late 1800s town, was abandoned. A businessman with art school training salvaged it, repurposed it into Trail Dust Town, and a mini-version of Old Tucson was born in 1961 that has been charming families and visitors ever since. The attraction includes shopping, dining, a museum, an event center, and entertainment.

Trail Dust Town is home to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse (wear a tie to dinner at your own risk!), a charming antique amusement park with a 1920s Allan Herschell merry-go-round and a narrow-gauge train, the Museum of the Horse of the Soldier, and a weekly comedy Wild West stunt show arena. Sometimes, the world-famous trick roper, Loop Rawlins, makes special appearances!

CreditTrail Dust Town

Mescal Movie Set

Located just east of Benson, Mescal Movie Set has been a shooting location for Western films for over 70 years. It opened in the 1940s as a second backlot for productions at Old Tucson, and was recently restored and upgraded, for both filming and new guided tours and events. Don’t miss the chance to walk the streets where The Outlaw Josey Wales, Tombstone, The Quick and The Dead, Gunsmoke, The Magnificent Seven, and Little House on the Prairie were filmed!

CreditMescal Movie Set

Film Festivals & Events in Southern Arizona

There is a film festival in Southern Arizona for nearly every month of the year, showing off the writing, directing, and acting creativity of the region. Check out our blog on film festivals in the region!

Bonus: 9 Must-Watch Cowboy Westerns Filmed in Marana and at Old Tucson

1. The Wild Bunch (1969) with William Holden and Ernest Borgnine

2. Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne and Angie Dickinson

3. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) with Humphrey Bogart

4. Winchester ’73 (1950) with James Stewart and Shelley Winters

5. 3:10 to Yuma (1957) with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin

6. The Quick and the Dead (1992) with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Leonardo DiCaprio

7. Arizona (1940) with Jean Arthur and William Holden

8. Relentless (1948) with Robert Young and Marguerite Chapman, costumes by Jean Louis

9. The Gal Who Took the West (1949) with Yvonne de Carlo and Charles Coburn

Feature Films And Television Series Filmed In Marana From 1910-2021

Silent-era studios that may have filmed in Marana in the 1910s:

Vitagraph Studios (1910-?) Founded in Brooklyn, NY in 1897, bought by Warner Bros. in 1925. Vitagraph moved to California in 1911.
Lubin Manufacturing Company (1913-1915) Founded in Philadelphia in 1902, established a Tucson production unit and made around 60 short films, with Romaine Fielding, the director and actor.
Flying A Studio (1912-1917) Based in Santa Barbara, CA, established a Tucson unit for a couple of years that helped to launch the career of director Allan Dwan.
Éclair Moving Picture Company (1913-1915) Based in Paris, France, established a Tucson unit and made around 80 short films in the area during that time. Distributed by Universal.
Essanay Film Manufacturing Company
The Girl Stage Driver (1914) Starring Norbert A. Myles and Edna Payne may have been filmed in the area.
Arizona (1918) Starring Douglas Fairbanks. This is a silent film that has been lost.
Arizona (1939) Starring William Holden and Jean Arthur
Relentless (1948) Starring Robert Young and Marguerite Chapman with costumes by Jean Louis
The Last Round Up (1948) Starring Gene Autry
The Gal Who Took the West (1949) Starring Yvonne DeCarlo and Charles Coburn
Winchester '73 (1950) Starring Jimmy Stewart and Shelley Winters
Apache Drums (1951) Starring Stephen McNally and Coleen Gray
The Last Outpost aka Cavalry Charge (1951) Starring Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming
A Kiss before Dying (1955) Starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward
Apache Ambush (1955) Starring Bill Williams, Richard Jaeckel, Alex Montoya, and Movita
Backlash (1956) Starring Richard Widmark and Donna Reed
The Bottom of the Bottle (1956) Starring Joseph Cotton and Van Johnson
The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1956) Starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels
Wanted: Dead or Alive - television series (1958-1961) Starring Steve McQueen
Rio Bravo (1959) Starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson (this was filmed in locations circling Marana)
Bonanza (1959-1973) Starring Lorne Greene and Michael Landon
Arizona Raiders (1965) Starring Audie Murphy, Michael Dante, Buster Crabbe, and Gloria Talbott
The High Chaparral - 17 episodes (1967-1971) Starring Leif Erickson, Cameron Mitchell, Henry Darrow, and Linda Cristal
The Mini-Skirt Mob (1968) Starring Jeremy Slate, Diane McBain, Sherry Jackson, and Harry Dean Stanton
Young Billy Young (1969) Starring Robert Mitchum, Angie Dickerson and Robert Walker Jr.
The Wild Bunch (1969) Starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sanchez, Ben Johnson, and Emilio Fernandez
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice (1969) Starring Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon
Five Savage Men (1971) Starring Henry Silva and Michelle Carey
The Getaway (1972) Starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw
Night of the Lepus (1972) Starring Janet Leigh and DeForest Kelley
Petrocelli - television series (1974-76) Starring Barry Newman and Susan Howard
Another Man, Another Chance (1977) Directed by Claude Lelouch, starring James Caan and Genevieve Bujold
How the West Was Won - television mini-series (1977) Starring James Arness
The New Maverick - television movie (1978) Starring James Garner
More Wild, Wild West (1980) Starring Robert Conrad and Jonathan Winters
Flashpoint (1984) Starring Kris Kristofferson, Treat Williams, Tess Harper, and Rip Torn
Cannonball Run II (1984) Starring Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr,, Jamie Farr, Marilu Henner, Telly Savalas, Shirley MacLaine
Stones for Ibarra - televison movie (1988) Starring Glenn Close and Keith Carradine
The Quick and the Dead (1992) Starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Leonardo DiCaprio
Geronimo (1993) Starring Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Wes Studi, and Matt Damon, directed by Robert Young
Flirting with Disaster (1996) Starring Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette
Perdita Durango (1997) Starring Rosie Perez
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) Starring George Clooney and Sam Rockwell, directed by George Clooney
The Last Blast (2006) Starring Heinz Hoenig
Hot Bath and A Stiff Drink and A Close Shave (2014) Starring Jeffrey Patterson, Frankie Nunez and Alison Eastwood
The Crossroads (2021) Starring Nick Ballard and Emily Coupe, directed by Douglas A. Raine

Sources:

Marty Freese, Old Tucson movie historian
IMDbPro
National Film Preservation Foundation
Old Tucson website
Santa Barbara Historical Society Museum
True, R. (2016). Dude Ranching in Arizona. Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, SC.
White Stallion Ranch
Wikipedia